Regarding litter training for ferrets -
 
I have been working with my 5-month old, Slinky, for a while now, and
(while things aren't perfect), he's pretty good about the litter box.
Here's a few things to try:
 
a)  Once he is up and wants to come out, watch what he does from
somewhere where he probably can't see you.  Slinky gets excited when he
knows I am there, and forgets about going to the box - sometime until I
let him out!  When you see him go in the box, wait until he is done,
then come and immediately open the cage door.  He'll get the idea
pretty quickly.  Watch out for fakes - Slinky will often hop in 1 or 2
times just to show he's been in there without really trying.
 
b)  Most of the time that Slinky goes to the bathroom outside of the
cage is in the 1st 10-15 minutes he is out.  Until he gets it down,
follow him around for at least that time.  If you see him put his tail
up and start to back up, tell him no, pick him up, and put him in his
litter box.  If Slinky started to go twice in one outside session, he
went back in his cage until he used his litter box.
 
Hope this helps - we've only had one "mistake" this week!
 
To Pam and Bree - hope all is going well today.
 
heers - Mason, Slinky, and Leila (the cat who knows that if it is
scary, all you have to do is jump somewhere!)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0690]